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History of the Valdosta Kennel Club

The VKC was formed in 1962 by a few local dog breeders and lovers. In the beginning, meetings were held at the home of Della DeShong. As the club membership grew, we met in larger meeting locations.

Members worked hard going through AKC’s required B & A Matches along with cookie and cake sales and getting ads for our show catalogs to earn money toward putting on our AKC point shows. Our first AKC dog show was held on Feb. 24, 1967 at the National Guard Armory in Valdosta with an entry of 681 dogs.

Later dog shows were held in February at the Valdosta City Auditorium and the Lowndes County Civic Center until 2009. In April of 2010, the VKC started having two back to back dog shows in Perry, Ga. and none in Valdosta due to the limited space available at the Valdosta show grounds. Our shows in Perry in conjunction with the Peach Blossom Cluster have been very successful, with not only conformation and obedience offered, but also Rally, Agility, Lure Coursing, Herding, Barn Hunt, Weight Pulling, and a few other dog related events.

The Valdosta Kennel Club has monthly meetings in Valdosta and sponsors obedience, conformation, agility and Canine Good Citizen classes on a regular basis. Some of our members also participate in visiting schools, libraries, and nursing homes with their wonderful canine family members.